As Fox Sports has trouble finding someone to fill Shannon Sharpe’s shoes opposite Skip Bayless on Undisputed, perhaps they should look no further than Joy Taylor. Heck, she has a history with Bayless. And she has plenty of hot takes in the chamber, including one she made about Dak Prescott recently.
For better or worse, Prescott is constantly under the national microscope, as the Dallas Cowboys are often the center of the NFL universe. So while he’s played like a top quarterback throughout his playing career, he’s been the subject of criticism, fair or not, because of his shortcomings. Prescott is 61-36 as a starter in his career, though he has a 2-4 record in the playoffs.
During Tuesday’s version of Fox Sports’ Speak, Emmanuel Acho asked Taylor what she wanted to see out of Prescott this year.
“A miracle,” Taylor bluntly replied.
She then compared him to Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins. But it would be hard to argue that they’re the same tier of quarterback, at least from a talent perspective. Yes, they both have the same career passer rating, but Prescott is undoubtedly more talented and the better thrower of the football. If both hit the open market tomorrow, Prescott would be the one that teams coveted more. Yes, he’s also five years younger than Cousins, but he’s also more talented.
Taylor also seems to be parroting Colin Cowherd, who referred to Prescott as Cousins with “more fans and fewer haters” just last season.
“Dak Prescott is not that talented,” she continued. “He’s good enough to get a team to the playoffs. Kirk does that. He’s good enough to win a playoff game. Kirk does that. He’s good enough to have a high-flying offense, good regular season, win a division, and all those things are inherently good things. They make you a franchise quarterback. You will get paid doing that. You will get endorsements doing that. You’ll be the face of a franchise doing that. But we don’t have to talk about you as if you’re a Super Bowl contender.”
Taylor clarified her take, saying that Prescott isn’t talented enough to get to an NFC Championship Game.
And yet, somehow San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is?
Football is a team sport. You don’t have to like Prescott, but claiming he isn’t talented enough to make a championship game when lesser quarterbacks have done so totally misses the mark.
“Dak has been the reason why they have lost multiple years against the same team,” Taylor said. “I think Dak is a great face of an organization. I think he does a tremendous job being the face of the Dallas Cowboys, which I think is actually a very difficult thing of what you have to do between the lines. I think he’s talented enough to win regular season games, to win the division, to put up big numbers, to get to the playoffs, to win a playoff game. He’s done all those things.”
“But we talk about this team like they should be Super Bowl contenders. Why?”
Taylor certainly makes some fair points. But talent and general production are just not a fair criticism of Prescott’s game. Yes, he’s had issues stepping up in big moments, but it doesn’t appear like that’s ever been a talent issue.
[Speak]
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.